Wiccan, Pagan Beliefs Still Exist

This is your unlucky day

It seems as if very few students today actually believe in superstitions. Most deem them made-up sayings that come from uneducated people.

"Superstitions were made up by idiots who were desperate for luck," said Dustin Hope, a junior at Gateway High.

In reality, however, many superstitions stem from pagan beliefs going back hundreds of years. In fact, paganism was around long before Christianity.

Paganism is an "Earth-based belief system or religion," according to The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft. Many of the most primitive humans believed in a direct connection among the Earth, the solar system and human beings. As the human species advanced and became more educated, their beliefs advanced as well. The planets were discovered and the pagans discovered that these planets gave us the power of magick. Thus, Wicca was born.

Wicca is the aspect of paganism that deals with the actual use of magick.

"The difference between a pagan and a Wiccan is similar to the difference between a Christian and a Catholic. One is a subset of the other," according to About.com's Pagan/Wicca's 101 at paganwiccan .about.com

Wiccans are witches, and one of the most popular branches of their religion is based on the teachings of Gerald Gardner.

"Gardner, who claimed that an elder female relative initiated him into the Wiccan tradition in the 1930s, was a pioneer in publicizing Wicca," according to About.com. "He first published a novel, High Magick's Aid. Later, after the repeal of the British anti-witchcraft laws in the early 1950s, he published two nonfiction pieces: Witchcraft Today and The Meaning of Witchcraft."

The Wiccan Rede states, "An it harm none, and do what ye will." The other basic tenet of this religion is similar to karma and states that whatever you do, good or bad, comes back to you threefold.

There are many superstitions that have come from paganism and Wicca. The most popular one is that you will receive bad luck should a black cat cross your path. This comes from the Christian view of paganism. Because many pagans and Wiccans had, and have, cats, black cats began to represent death and other horrible things. Hence, we have a superstition about black cats.

The other extremely popular superstition stemming from paganism is the belief that only the weird ones come out during full moon. According to both the pagan and Wiccan belief systems, the height of your magickal energy will be during the full moon. This, of course, relates to the gods and goddesses of Wicca. Therefore, many spells and incantations are performed during the full moon. Christians saw this, again, as being evil and satanic. (Wiccans do not believe in Satan.)

Perhaps one of the most interesting facts about Wicca is that the religion preaches tolerance for all people and all beliefs, unlike many Christian religions that claim to be the only way to salvation.